The Black Cauldron

From TheAlmightyGuru
Jump to: navigation, search
The Black Cauldron

Black Cauldron, The - Hardcover - USA - 1st Edition.jpg

Hardcover - USA - 1st edition.

Author Lloyd Alexander
Published 1965-08-05
Type Fiction
Genre Fantasy
Themes Adventure, Coming of age, Fantasy
Age Group Children

The Black Cauldron is a fantasy novel written by Lloyd Alexander and published on 1965-08-05. It is the second book in the The Chronicles of Prydain series, the sequel to The Book of Three, and was followed by The Castle of Llyr.

The book is set in the fantasy world of Prydain which Alexander based loosely on Welsh mythology and follows Taran, a now slightly more worldly youth who is eager to prove himself. Although the Horned King has been defeated, the Death-Lord Arawn has been creating more of the Cauldron-Born, so Prince Gwydion calls upon his allies to take the Black Cauldron from him.

Personal

Own?No.
Read?Audiobook read by James Langton.
Finished2024-12-30.

After finishing The Book of Three, I wasn't in much of a hurry to read its sequel, so it ended up requiring me to re-read The Book of Three, then wait a few months, to finally real this one. Now, I'm not sure if I will continue the series.

Review

Overall:

Rating-4.svg

Good

  • Taran grows up a bit and becomes more noble and sure of himself which is nice character growth.
  • The trap set by the enchantresses is pretty clever.

Bad

  • The main characters weren't quite as annoying as they were in The Book of Three, but they still had all their dumb catchphrases and weren't all that interesting either. Many of the side characters were boring or childish.
  • The Huntsmen of Annuvin are rather dull faceless villains without much character to them, and it doesn't make sense that they'd be able to waylay various regimented soldiers.
  • The time when the group is stuck with Gwystyl is drawn-out and boring, as is when they're talking to the enchantresses.

Ugly

  • It just wasn't all that exciting, believable, or enjoyable, but I'm sure I would have liked it more if I read it as a child.

Media

Covers

Representation

Strong female character?PassEilonwy is intelligent and capable.
Bechdel test?PassEilonwy talks with the enchantresses about the cauldron.
Strong person of color character?FailAs far as I can tell, everyone is white.
Queer character?FailThere are no queer characters.

Quotes

— This section contains spoilers! —

  • "Morgant?" Taran asked, turning a puzzled glance to Gwydion. "How can there be honor for such a man?" "It is easy to judge evil unmixed," replied Gwydion. "But, alas, in most of us good and bad are closely woven as the threads on a loom; greater wisdom than mine is needed for the judging."

Adaptions

The 1985 Disney animated film, The Black Cauldron, was largely based on The Book of Three, but also included plot lines from The Black Cauldron, as was the video game adaption of the film.

Links

Link-Wikipedia.png  Link-GoodReads.png  Link-TVTropes.png